3 Responses to Vera Drake

Overwhelming This is an important movie about the moral dilemma posed by abortion. Abortions, legal or illegal, have always been performed, and women from all social strata, have always found themselves in need of a helping hand, whether the law upheld that kind of help at particular times or not. The movie shows this by juxtaposing the women whom Vera Drake helps, who cannot pay for abortion, with those who can pay to have an abortion done by a doctor, or by showing that in some cases at least, abortion…

A powerful performance by Imelda Staunton I missed this when it came out and so didn’t know what to expect when I viewed it on DVD. It is one of the most brilliant films I have seen for years. The acting is mind blowing, and the period details of 1950 are so atmospheric. All of the actors deserve oscars, some of this has to be because of Mike Leigh’s technique of getting the actors right inside their characters’ skin by improvising, but I was so with them all. The film had 3 nominations but I reckon should have won at least one and…

In 1950 London, Vera Drake is a middle-aged, working-class woman who cleans the homes of the wealthy, takes care of her family, looks after her infirm mother…she’s a woman who cares for people and seems able to work hard and stay cheerful. She also peforms abortions on young women who “have gotten in trouble.” Abortion was illegal then in Britain, and a woman’s choice was to bear the child, have an abortion safely and expensively by doctors secretly servicing a well-off clientel, or to take…